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Online gaming v2.0

Comment: 0 August 2nd, 2011 by: admin

The evolution of the World Wide Web from the static 1.0 to the current 2.0 version created a cyberspace that highlighted information sharing, as well as user participation and collaboration. And from this, one significant offshoot was the emergence of online social networks, overall a new, dynamic and fast-growing organism fed by interoperability and propagated by an invigoration of users to connect with each other.

The boom of the online social network segment engendered the diversification of entertainment options, one result being the birth of social gaming (mainly online games integrated into social network sites). For the US market alone, experts expect about 62 million users to play at least one game per month this 2011; they expect 68.7 million by 2012. Also, social gaming’s value is expected earn $1.32 billion this year.

THE AGE OF HIGH ROLLERS

With social gaming growing like a newly-spread virus, there came the propagation of “risk-based entertainment” integrated into the insanely popular social networking websites. Zynga Poker, created by social game giant Zynga, tallied 35,777,513 monthly users by May 18, 2011. Blackjack, another Zynga game, is enjoying its 95,991 monthly active users and 10,896 daily users (as of same date).

Game developer Soft Reklam has also been making waves, its Super Texas Hold’em Poker game sitting on 752,705 monthly active users as of May 2011, after rocketing up from 3,854 where it sat a mere 11 days prior.

The games have also invaded the mobile Internet platform, with Zynga Poker dominating the top-grossing applications for the Apple iPhone during the week of May 4, 2011; Texas Poker created by Kamagames Ltd. holds 4th place for the iPad.

Risk-based entertainment websites have also taken huge strides, specifically in the U.K. market, with the user count jumping 40% from the previous year. Numbers reveal that 3.2 million more people began logging in to online gaming websites – a number that exceeded the 2.2 million accounts acquired by social network giant Facebook.

Party Poker, an online gaming website, also reportedly grew their user base by 174% last year; users of Party Casino, a sister website, increased by 360%.

SPORTS BETTING 2.0

Slowly, the social activity of sports betting is taking on a new phase into today’s cyberspace, where content is contributable and the user is King.

Key features of Web 2.0 have been successfully integrated into sports betting websites as far back as 2000. An example is Betfair.com, which prides itself in a Betting Exchange service that allows website subscribers to post wagers on user-generated odds.

Similar services are available via Smarkets.com, in which users create their own odds, and other players are given the option of betting either for or against those odds. Developers of these services highlight the elimination of the bookkeeper, and the successful employment of new cyber-technology via Web 2.0.

However, while the services exist, some still suggest a need for technological advancement to effectively develop a sports betting website flexible enough for the full Web 2.0 experience. Highlighting the features of collaboration and collective experience, experts are envisioning wider possibilities that result from the incorporation of the social nature of sports betting, and the open participation allowed by Web 2.0.

Additionally, such web features as live, real-time game updates and even streaming are deemed an overall possible springboard for greater online user interaction and participation.

Regarding revenue potential, arguments criticize Web 2.0 as a tool focused more on interaction than profit production, making it financially unfeasible. Others oppose, insisting that the generated traffic within the playing community is a verdant starting point for efforts to convert the massive number of users to paying players.

Although the amount of online gaming’s contribution to the corporate bottom line is yet to be clarified, the social activity generated and ingrained within Web 2.0 could create buzz advertisers crave. Whether Web 2.0 is destined to create the latest gaming format, or achieve a more marketing-based function, the technology holds myriad user-centric potentials. And with social networking on the fast rise, trends will emerge; the end result is one of many possibilities for today’s gamer.

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